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Nutritional Deficiency Diseases

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Nutritional Diseases

  • Malnutrition: Lack of essential nutrients; ie vitamins, minerals, amino acids

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  • Undernourishment: Lack of food energy (calories).

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  • WHO estimates that half of the world’s population is malnourished in some form

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  • Can you be overnourished and malnourished at the same time?

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Diseases of Malnourishment

  • Marasmus: progressive emaciation due to lack of protein & calories preventing growth.
    • Cause of 49% of the 10.4 million deaths occurring in children younger than 5 years in developing countries.

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  • Kwashiorkor: lack of protein in diet, leading to failure of neural development.
    • “the sickness the older child gets when the next baby is born”
    • Characterized by bloated belly

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  • Chronic hunger: enough food to stay alive, but not be productive

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Child w/Kwashiorkor

Child w/Marasmus

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Noma, Cancrum oris

  • Cause: under/malnutrition
  • Problem: secondary infection; mucous membranes become inflamed and develop ulcers, often in the mouth

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Anemia

Cause: iron deficiency, decrease in the number of RBCs

Problem: fatigue, irritability, shortness of breath, constant headache

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Beriberi

Cause: lack of vitamin B1 (thiamine)

Problem: heart and nervous system damage, muscle wasting, brain damage

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Cretinism & Goiter

Cretinism

Causes: lack of iodine during pregnancy

Problem: physical & mental retardation, stunted growth

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Goiter

Causes: lack of iodine

Problem: deafness, fatigue, weight gain, enlarged thyroid

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Pellagra

Cause: lack of niacin

Problem: dermatitis, weakness, intestinal distress, neurologic manifestations, organ failure

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Osteoporosis

Cause: lack of calcium and/or vitamin D (prevents absorption of calcium)

Problem: weak bones, fractures, decrease bone density

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Rickets

Cause: lack of vitamin D

Problem: softening and weakening of bones from release of calcium from bones

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Scurvy

Cause: lack of vitamin C

Problem: irritability, swelling and hemorrhage especially over long bones, death from hemorrhage and cardiac failure

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Xerophthalmia

Cause: vitamin A deficiency

Problem: blindness

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Zinc deficiency

Cause: diet deficient in zinc

Problem: poor wound healing, bone deformities, dwarfism, hyperpigmentation, fetal abnormalities, immune system failure